Linda Goodman's Sun Signs (16 page)

Gemini can charm a bird right out of its tree and give it five new songs to sing. But the restless Mercurial mind can too easily overlook the bluebird of happiness waiting wistfully year after year in his own backyard. He wears clear yellows, greens and blues, silver and gray—and his moods reflect his glittering aquamarine jewel. He has the light touch, echoed in the delicate fragrance of the lily-of-the-valley, and he has breathed the fresh promise of the greenest ferns in the deepest part of the forest. But the cold metal of Mercury divides Gemini with twin desires, until he stops—and waits—and listens—to his own heartbeat.

Famous Gemini Personalities

Being in love gives you a nice sense of warm security. There's that heavenly comfort of always knowing someone is going to be there when you need him—that you no longer walk alone. All the doubts you knew before just melt away. That is, unless you're having a romance with a Mercury man, which might take the edge off that “warm security.” In fact, you'll adjust much better to a Gemini if you send him out for a loaf of bread on Monday and don't expect him back until Thursday. Never look for him until you see him coming—and don't hang onto his coat-tails when he wants to leave.

Once you've schooled yourself to accept his restless, unpredictable spirit, there's a good chance of making it work. But not if you're going to insist on “that heavenly comfort of always knowing someone is going to be there.” You'll probably never know for sure when this man is going to be anywhere, and that can bring back some of those doubts romance is supposed to melt away. It's true that when you're in love with a Gemini, you won't walk alone. You most certainly won't. You'll have at least two people to walk with you—and both of them will be him. He was born under the sign of the twins, you know. In his case, they're never identical twins. The dual nature of Gemini combines two completely different personalities. You might even be involved with one of those Mercury men who are triplets or quintuplets, and if so, you have quite a crowd to keep you company, even when you're alone with him.

The typical Gemini is the favorite of every host or hostess. He likes people. The more the merrier. It's a rare Geminian who's not a perfectly delightful conversationalist. He has exquisite taste, he's loaded with witty remarks, and his compliments are masterpieces of warm sincerity. Usually a master of impeccable manners and social adroitness, he keeps the party moving in more ways than one.

You know those scavenger hunts, where people pair off with a list of whacky items to collect, like a hair from the head of a famous movie star and the Boardwalk and Park Place property cards, and the couple which has rounded up the most items on the list gets the prize? It's the Gemini's favorite kind of party, because it combines the highest possible exposure to people of all kinds with the highest possible opportunity to move around from place to place—and he seeks both.

If you meet him first at a social affair where he's performing his fascinating multiple personality act, you haven't a chance. You'll be convinced he's the most exciting, interesting, intelligent man you've ever come across. No one could quarrel with that analysis. He probably is. It's no wonder you're excited and impressed. But before you decide to change your name, be sure you're capable of tackling an uncertain future with a man whose whims may change with the wind, and whose goals in life may shift drastically before the honeymoon is even over. Geminian Walt Whitman once wrote the lines: “Do I contradict myself? … I contain multitudes.” Whether he realized it or not, he was summing up the Mercury nature.

One day your Gemini man may call on you with a chattering monkey perched on his shoulder and suggest going to a flea circus. He'll bring you flowers, perfume, a bracelet or a couple of books, maybe even one he wrote himself. The hours will speed by as you happily sun yourself in his cheerful disposition, laugh at his bright, clever jokes and melt under his gay, gallant charm. He'll say “I love you,” a hundred different ways, like no one else in the world could do.

The next day, he'll phone you and break a date for no earthly reason whatsoever, causing you to imagine all sorts of things. Was he only joking about loving you? Is he seeing someone else? Is he in trouble? Your fears may be true. Then again, they may be false. A week later, he'll reappear, full of sarcastic remarks, moody and irritable. He'll be impatient, critical and petulant. He may criticize your shoes, your lipstick or your literary taste, and have some pretty cutting doubts about the possibility of your happiness together. Either all this, or he'll be sullen and troubled, his mind far away, distant and aloof. No use asking why, you won't get an answer that makes any sense.

If you survive that experience, a few more days will find you visiting an art gallery, theater, museum, library or opera with your Gemini man, absolutely hypnotized by his knowledge and wide interests. He'll be unusually tender, full of fragile, butterfly dreams and imaginative hopes for tomorrow. Then he'll propose. Like that. Quick as lightning. You'll forget all the thunder and storm clouds, all the rain that fell before, say “yes,” before he changes his mind—and there you are—engaged to an enigma.

Yes, I said enigma. If you expect anything else, like a man who's stable and patient, who will gently play Darby to your Joan while life and love glide on as smoothly as a gondola down a romantic canal in Venice, you're headed in the same direction as a merry-go-round. In circles. Get off fast and never mind about grabbing the brass ring. Don't let the gay, light-hearted music seduce you into following a painted scene of constantly changing colors, with shades of dreary gray as likely to show up as sunny yellow or blissful blue. If you're an incurable romantic, seeking perfect harmony, you're in more than a little danger.

No matter what the rest of his natal chart says, if the Sun was in Gemini when he was born, this man will not remain tomorrow what he is today, nor will he have any lasting memory of yesterday. In one way or another, he will change. Granted, the changes may always be for the better and he may consistently aim higher. But the element of chance is always there. If you're a gambler, you may very well hit the jackpot with him, and find a glorious mental and emotional compatibility to celebrate on your golden wedding anniversary. But all good gamblers know the odds before they place their bet. Just be sure you do. Two rare exceptions to Geminian instability of purpose seem to be President Kennedy and England's Queen Victoria. However, keep in mind that John Kennedy had, at all times a multitude of interests, which changed constantly, and Queen Victoria (who was very close to being a Taurus by planetary position) brought about a great many important changes in her country's customs. Anyway, very few of us marry kings, queens or presidents, who have been forced by circumstances to mature and settle into a set pattern.

An excellent example of Geminian duality of expression is the confession of a woman who was exposed to it. The Mercury-ruled man was a producer, and the woman was a famous, dark-haired Pisces actress. After a weekend party with friends as the guest of the Gemini on his boat, during which he was openly insulting, rude and aloof to her, by turns, the actress was dismayed and puzzled. Later, she made the remark, “I don't know what's wrong with him. He must hate me. I've never done anything to him, yet he hardly spoke a word to me all weekend.” Ah, but don't you see, she
had
done something to him. She had made him fall in love with her. The emotion was serious enough for him to marry her soon after the incident. But how did he react to his first knowledge of a feeling of tenderness toward her? As though she were Lucretia Borgia.

Her experience probably won't keep you from leaping into a romance with a Mercury man. Still, it might soothe the wounds of a few of you women who have been suffering from the cold actions of a Gemini who's probably helplessly in love with you and cleverly concealing it for his own, unfathomable reasons. Geminis have an unconscious urge to disguise their true intent, to fence with others verbally and cloak their motives with dual actions. In general, they seek to confuse you. Then with true Geminian inconsistency, they'll turn right around and be so direct, they'll fairly take your breath away with their frankness and bluntness.

Loving a Gemini is easy and fun, if you don't try to get too close. There's a inner core that belongs only to him that he'll never share with another human being, even you. Keep things cool and light, and don't be overly passionate or dramatic. Don't bore him, always excite him and your Gemini romance can be very special. Don't rebel against his changeability. Change with him. Be as alert and interested in life as he is. Otherwise, the love affair could become just one of those things. He seeks a mental companion above all else. One who can match his wits, even top him now and then, because he's not an egotist. He's a realist, and he thrives on mental challenge. The last thing he wants is a doormat or a dull mouse. Let your brain show through your feminine image. It won't scare him off, as it might some men. It will spin him around in the right direction—toward you.

Geminis tend to discard old friends for new ones, but not because they're heartless. Their own personalities fluctuate and advance so relentlessly, it's only natural for them to seek those who match their interests at the time. Anywhere Gemini hangs his hat is home. There's seldom any deep, lasting attachment to old memories, places, people and things. During a long period of loneliness, he can shed some sentimental tears, but it's the loneliness that does it, rather than nostalgia for yesterday. He's gregarious, and he hates—even fears—being alone for extended periods. If you can hit him with the message that you'll be a partner who will always be around, but who won't lean on him nor expect him to lean on you, he'll probably consider signing a long-term contract. But remember those odds. Many Geminis marry more than once, although multiple marriage is more likely to occur when they wed too young than if they wait for maturity. Not every Gemini has two wives, but he'll have two of almost everything else—perhaps two cars, two apartments, two college degrees, two jobs, two dreams, two pets, two razors, two hobbies, two ambitions. He likes to double up.

In financial matters, the duality takes over again. A Mercury man may be at first fabulously generous, then abruptly turn miserly. If you average out his twin attitudes, my guess is that the generosity would win, hands down. Gemini has little desire to accumulate either money or knowledge. In each case, he prefers to absorb it, sort it, and give it back improved. He's the communicator whose function is to create ever new, original ideas and serve others through the versatility of his quick, brilliant mental processes.

Will he be faithful to you? In his fashion, yes, he will. There are a thousand answers to that question where Mercury is concerned. He likes to converse and he likes to mix. He's also strangely attractive to women, so there may be occasions for whispers and suspicions. But you can count on this: It's a rare Gemini man whose deeply ingrained sense of fairness will let him be dishonest in his actions if you have faith in him. I mean real faith and real trust. Not the kind that secretly wonders. He'll always be able to sense if you secretly wonder. Mercury minds often intercept your private thoughts as though you were broadcasting them. However, it's not a good idea to expect a Gemini husband to give all females a cold shoulder just because he wears a wedding band. Females are part of the scene, and Gemini must make the scene. If they're around, he'll talk to them—maybe even laugh with them or have a drink with them. It's only natural for Mercury to communicate, regardless of the sex of the listener. But that doesn't mean he has to romance them.

It's true that there are lots of Geminians who are just plain, outright promiscuous, yet no matter what you've heard, there's always a cause. To be mistrusted or misunderstood in any area deeply distresses a Mercury man. It frustrates and depresses him, and such an unhappy Gemini can fly here and there, seeking relief from tangled emotions. When he's free from a feeling of mental isolation, and has nothing to prove to anyone, he loses the compulsion to experiment and take flights of fancy. A woman who has perfect
mental
harmony with a Gemini need never fear emotional or physical unfaithfulness. That's so true of these men, it's almost a cut and dried rule. But he won't be chained unreasonably. To expect your Gemini not to smile back when someone smiles at him, whether it's a child or an adult, a man or a woman, is to expect the sun not to shine. His cheerful, friendly nature seeks companionship constantly. It could be the conductor on the commuter train or the waitress at the coffee shop around the corner from where he works. Don't try to stifle him. When anyone tries to confine the Gemini's spirit, he can become as elusive and as unpredictable as the wind itself.